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41st Congress, ) HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. i Ex. Doc. 
2d /Session . f j 142 . 

,0; o', Lew dft«O,i % ' i0 ' n ° a i - . 

«.;> «-* * .A 

FEEEDMEN’S BUREAU AND ABANDONED LANDS. 


LETTER 

FROM THE 

SUPERINTENDENT OF FREEDMEN’S BUREAU, ETC., 

IN ANSWER TO 


A resolution of the House of February 11 , 1870, in relation to the amount 
expended in the execution of said office. 


February 18, 1870. — Referred to tlie Committee on Appropriations and ordered to be 

printed. 



War Department, Bureau of Refugees, 

Freedmen and Abandoned Lands, 
Washington , February 15, 1870. 

Sir : In compliance with a resolution passed February 11 , 1870, in 
the House of Representatives, I have the honor to make a preliminary 
report, now needed by the Committee on Education and Labor. 

The amount expended for “the purposes for which the office” (of Com¬ 
missioner of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands) 
“ was created, or which I have expended in the execution of said office,” is 
eleven million nine hundred and ninety thousand fifty-eight dollars and 
eighty-one cents, ($11,990,058 81,) to January 31, 1870. Of this sum 
fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) were transferred to the Agricultural 
Department, and five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) were set 
apart as a special relief fund for all classes of destitute people in the 
southern States, in accordance with joint resolution of Congress ap¬ 
proved March 30, 1867, so that the cash^expenditures of this Bureau for 
the benefit of refugees and freedmen havebeen eleven million four 
hundred and forty thousand fifty-eight dollars and eighty-one cents 
($11,440,058 81.) In addition to this, subsistence, medical supplies, and 
quartermasters’ stores were issued prior to July 1, 18G6, the original 
cost of which was two million three hundred and thirty thousand seven 
hundred and eighty-eight dollars and seventy-two cents, ($2,330,788 72,) 
but whose real value when transferred to this Bureau was probably less 
than one million of dollars. 

Properly speaking, no funds have been expended for any church what¬ 
ever ; yet old church buildings have been fitted up and used for school 
purposes, and school buildings have in many instances been used, in the 
intermission of the schools, for religious services. 

The amount expended for “each school, asylum, or other object of 










2 


freedmen’s bureau and abandoned lands. 


charity,” since the organization of this Bureau to the present time, will 
be reported in detail as soon as it can be prepared. 

I have the honor to inclose, herewith, a copy of my last^inual report, 
which contains a correct statement of receipts and expen azures from 
the organization of the Bureau (including assumed accounts of the “De¬ 
partment of Negro Affairs” from January 1, 1865) to August 31, 1869. 

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

O. O. HOWARD, 

U. S. A ., Commissioner. 


Brevet Major General 

Hon. J. G. Blaine, 

/Speaker of the House of Representatives , 

Washington , 1). C. 


t i%b 

t 

.Hti 

n>io 


CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES—FORTY-FIRST CONGRESS. SECOND SESSION. 

In the House of REPRESENTATivE^{Fe&rM«% 11 , 1870 . 

On motion of Mr. Rogers, 

Resolved , That General O. O. Howard, Superintendent of Freedmen’s Bureau and 
Abandoned Lands, be, and he is hereby, directed to report to tliis^House, at as early a 
day as possible, the amount expended by him for the purposes for which his office was 
created, or which he has expended in the execution of said office. «That he report the 
amount he has expended for each church, school, asylum, or other object of charity to 
which he has donated any portion of the funds committed to him by the government, 
and the authority of law under which said donation or donations were made. 

Attest: EDWARD McPHERSON, Cleric. 

A true copy: 

E. WHITTLESEY, 

A. A. A. General. 


V\.REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER BUREAU REFUGEES, FREEDMEN, &c. 

War Department, Bureau of Refugees, 

Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, 

Washington , I). (7., October 20, 1869. 

Sir : I have the honor to submit for the consideration of his excel¬ 
lency the President of the United States the following report, called 
for by an act of Congress approved March 3, 1865: 

Since my last annual report material changes have been made in the 
operations of this Bureau, in accordance with the acts of Congress re¬ 
lating thereto. The act of July 25, 1868, required the Commissioner “to 
cause the Bureau to be withdrawn from the several States within which 
said Bureau has acted, and its operations, excepting the educational and 
bounty divisions, to be discontinued on the first day of January, 1869.” 

Orders were issued and measures adopted for effecting this change 
with the least possible violence. Notice was given to officers, agents, 
and clerks that their services would not be needed after December 31, 
1868. The freedmen were early informed that they must look to the 
civil magistrates for protection of their rights and redress of their 
wrongs, and that the supplies of food and clothing for the destitute, 
medicines and care for the sick, the transportation of laborers to new 
homes, and all oversight and assistance in making contracts, must very 
soon cease. Disbursing officers were instructed to settle outstanding 
accounts, and to sell the public property no longer needed. The aban¬ 
doned lands still reported, but of very little value, were ordered to be 
restored to the owners thereof, or dropped from the returns. 




freedmen’s bureau and abandoned lands. 


3 


These orders were promptly executed, and the law strictly enforced, 
with one exception. It was found that the freedmen’s hospitals at New 
Orleans, La., Vicksburg, Miss., Louisville, Ky., Richmond, Va., and 
Washington, 1). 0., could not be closed at once without exposing many 
utterly helpless patients to great distress. The local authorities refused 
to assume the charge of these hospitals, and, after consulting the Secre¬ 
tary of War and receiving his approval, it was determined to continue 
them until an appeal could be made to Congress for further action. 
Three of these have since been closed, and only those in Richmond, Va., 
and in this city remain, whose continuance was authorized by an act of 
Congress approved April 7, 18G9. 

The reduction of force and work within the last year will be seen from 
the following comparison: One year ago there were on duty in this 
Bureau one hundred and forty-one (141) commissioned officers, four hun¬ 
dred and twelve (412) civilian agents, and three hundred and forty-eight 
(348) clerks. At present there are fifteen (15) commissioned officers, 
seventy-one (71) civilian agents, and seventy-two (72) clerks. A year 
ago clothing and rations were distributed to the destitute, costing ninety- 
three thousand seven hundred and live dollars ($93,705) per month. 
At present no such supplies are issued, except to the sick in hospitals. 
At the date of the last annual report there w r ere in operation twenty- 
one (21) hospitals and forty-eight (48) dispensaries, with five thousand 
three hundred and ninety-nine (5,399) patients, and eighty-five (85) sur¬ 
geons. Now 7 there are two (2) hospitals, no dispensaries, with five hun¬ 
dred and forty-one (541) patients and five (5) surgeons. During the last 
year transportation was furnished to six thousand four hundred and 
eighty-one (6,481) persons, and four thousand eight hundred and fifteen 
(4,815) packages of stores, at a cost of twenty-four thousand eight hun¬ 
dred and forty ($24,840) dollars per month. Now no transportation 
orders are issued, and the only expenditures for this service is for mile- 
\ , age or actual expenses of officers, traveling under orders. All disburse¬ 
ments are now r made from this office. Accurate records are kept of all 
financial transactions, and a minute history of every claimant’s account 
which is settled through this Bureau. So long as the educational and 
bounty divisions shall be continued, it will not be practicable nor safe 
to make any further reduction of the force now employed in this office 
and the several States. 

The operations committed to my charge having been brought within 
comparatively narrow bounds, and in several departments entirely 
closed, a general review of the work done and a condensed report of 
the results attained seem to be called for. 

Previous to the establishment of this Bureau, and early in the pro¬ 
gress of the w ar, it was seen by intelligent military officers, and by 
statesmen in Washington, that the condition of the colored people set 
free by the army demanded earnest attention and wise consideration. 

^ In February, 1862, General T. W. Sherman issued an order* appealing 
to the benevolent and philanthropic people of the land in behalf of the 
helpless blacks of South Carolina within the limits of his command. 
He not only begs for contributions of clothing and other necessaries of 
life, but says : “ To relieve the government of a burden that may here- 
o after become insupportable, and to enable the blacks to support and 
govern themselves in the absence and abandonment of their disloyal 
guardians, a suitable system of culture and instruction must be combined 
with one providing for their physical w 7 ants.” Similar urgent appeals 

* General Orders No. 9, Department of tlie South. 



4 


freedmen’s bureau and abandoned lands. 


were made by Commodore Du Pont and others, the demands for help 
increasing as the territory occupied by our forces was enlarged. A 
deep interest was aroused in the northern States, and very soon several 
relief associations were organized for the purpose of collecting and for¬ 
warding supplies and supporting teachers, preachers, and superintend¬ 
ents of labor. The President and the Secretaries of War and of the 
Treasury heartily approved these efforts, and gave such aid as their 
limited powers would permit. The first important expedition was the 
sailing of about sixty (GO) volunteer laborers, among whom were Mrs. 
Senator Harlan and fifteen (15) other ladies, on the 3d of March, 1862, 
upon the steamer Atlantic, laden with army stores for our troops at Port 
Royal, S. C. This company of teachers and superintendents of labor, 
under charge of E. L. Pierce, esq., of Boston, and Rev. Mansfield 
French, accomplished a very good work on the islands along the coast 
of South Carolina. They distributed food and clothing, nursed the 
sick, systematized labor, and organized schools. During the first year 
they furnished ninety-one thousand eight hundred and thirty-four 
(91,834) garments, thirty-five thousand eight hundred and twenty-nine 
(35,829) books and pamphlets, five thousand eight hundred and ninety- 
five (5,895) yards of cloth, three thousand dollars ($3,000) worth of 
farming implements and seeds, and had about three thousand (3,000) 
scholars under instruction. Similar efforts were made in 1862 along the 
Atlantic coast from the District of Columbia to Florida. In 1863 Gen¬ 
eral Grant appointed Rev. A. S. Fiske, chaplain, superintendent of con¬ 
trabands in his department, and ordered him north to obtain relief for 
more than fifty thousand (50,000) starving refugees on the banks of the 
Mississippi. A quick response was given to his appeals, and generous 
gifts of clothing and money were placed at his disposal. 

But it was evident to thinking men that these noble, benevolent 
efforts could not fully meet the demands of the times. The numerous 
societies organized were local and acted independently of each other. A 
general plan was needed, and unity of action, with a central directing 
power, and larger means than could be furnished by private charities. 

On the 12th of January, 1863, a bill was presented in the House of 
Representatives to establish a a Bureau of Emancipation.” It met with 
much opposition, but finally a substitute for the original bill, entitled 
“An act to establish a Bureau for the Relief of Freedmen and Refugees,” 
was passed, and became a law on the 3d of March, 1865. I was assigned 
to duty as Commissioner of this Bureau May 12, 1865,* and on the 15th 
entered upon my duties and began the work of organization. 

The law establishing the Bureau committed to it “the control of all 
subjects relating to refugees and freedmen from rebel States, under such 
rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the head of the Bureau 
and approved by the President.” This almost unlimited authority gave 
me great scope and liberty of action, but at the same time it imposed 
upon me very perplexing and responsible duties. Legislative, judicial, 
and executive powers were combined in my commission, reaching all 
the interests of four millions of people, scattered over a vast territory, 
living in the midst of another people claiming to be superior, and known 
to be not altogether friendly. It was impossible at the outset to do 
more than lay down a few general principles to guide the officers 
assigned as assistant commissioners in the several States. These offi¬ 
cers were men of well-tried character, and to them was committed to a 
considerable extent the task of working out the details of organization 

* General Orders No. 91, War Department, A. G. O., May 12, 1865. 



freedmen’s bureau and abandoned lands. 


5 


in accordance with the different states of affairs in their respective dis¬ 
tricts. No one minute system of rules could have been rigidly adhered 
to and applied in every part of the southern country. I therefore set 
lortli clearly the objects* to be attained and the powerst which the 
Bureau could legally exercise, and left it to my subordinates to devise 
suitable measures for effecting these objects. 

The first reports received from these officers present a sad picture of 
want and misery. Though large sums of money had been contributed 
by generous northern people; though many noble-hearted men and women, 
with the spirit of true Christian missionaries, had engaged zealously 
in the work of relief and instruction ; though the heads of departments 
in Washington, and military commanders in the field, had done all in 
their power; yet the great mass of the colored people, just freed from 
slavery, had not been reached. In every State many thousands were 
found without employment, without homes, without means of subsist¬ 
ence, crowding irito towns and about military posts, where they hoped to 
find protection and supplies. The sudden collapse of the rebellion, 
making emancipation an actual, universal fact, was like an earthquake. 
It shook and shattered the whole social system. It broke up the old 
industries and threatened a reign of anarchy. Even the well-disposed 
and humane land-owners were at a loss what to do, or how to begin the 
work of reorganizing society, and of rebuilding their ruined fortunes. 
Very few had any knowledge of free labor, or any hope that their former 
slaves would serve them faithfully for wages. On the other hand, the 
freed people were in a state of great excitement and uncertainty. They 
could hardly believe that the liberty proclaimed was real and perma¬ 
nent. Many were afraid to remain on the same soil that they had tilled 
as slaves, lest by some trick they might find themselves again in bond¬ 
age. Others supposed that the government would either take the entire 
supervision of their labor and support, or divide among them the lands 
of conquered rebels, and furnish them with all that might be necessary 
to begin life as independent farmers. 

In such an unsettled state of affairs it was no ordinary task to inspire 
hostile races with mutual confidence, to supply the immediate wants of 
the sick and starving, to restore social order, and to set in motion all 
the wheels of industry. 

It was necessary at the outset to attend to the physical wants of those 
who were actually suffering. The sick, infirm old men and women, for¬ 
saken by their former owners, and helpless orphans, too young to earn 
their support, formed the most pitiable class. I found some hospitals 
and asylums already in existence, and in the valley of the Mississippi a 
systematic plan of relief for the destitute sick had been adopted, con¬ 
formed mainly to the hospital system of the army, by which assistance 
was given to over seventeen thousand (17,000) persons. In this District 
also a complete relief system was in operation, which had furnished, in 
1804, medical attendance and medicines to six thousand nine hundred 
and twenty-nine (0,929) patients. It was only necessary, therefore, to 
increase the number and capacity of these hospitals and asylums, so as 
to meet the necessities of refugees and freed men in all parts of the coun¬ 
try. The Surgeon General cordially aided by detailing surgeons and 
furnishing medical supplies, and during the first year of the operations 
of the Bureau the death rate among freedmen was reduced from thirty 
per cent, to less than four per cent. During the first three months after 

* See circular No. 2, War Department, Bureau R. F. and A. L., May 19, 1865. 

t Circular No. 5, War Department, Bureau R. F. and A. L., Washington, D. C., May 
30, 1865. 



6 


freedmen’s bureau and abandoned lands. 


the organization of this relief system, the number of refugees and freed¬ 
men receiving medical treatment was forty-eight thousand four hun¬ 
dred and twenty-nine, (48,429.) In the next ten months, i. e., up to 
August 31, I860, the number of patients was one hundred and sixty-six 
thousand live hundred and twenty-one, (16G,521.) The number of hos¬ 
pitals existing during that period was lifty-six, (56,; and of orphan asy¬ 
lums live, (5.) During the ten months ending June, 18G7, the number 
of patients was one hundred and forty four thousand one hundred and 
forty-nine, (144,149.) In the next year, ending June 30, 18G8, the num¬ 
ber treated was one hundred and fifty-nine thousand one hundred and 
forty-nine, (159,149,) and in the last year, ending June 30,18G9, the num¬ 
ber was sixty-five thousand nine hundred and thirty, (65,930.) Thus it 
will be seen that since its organization the Bureau has had under its 
care no less than five hundred and eighty-four thousand one hundred 
and seventy-eight (584,178) sick and infirm persons, for whom no pro¬ 
vision was made by local authorities, and who had no means themselves 
of procuring the attendance and comforts necessary to health and life. 
It has not been possible to provide for the proper treatment of the in¬ 
sane. For some of this unfortunate class admission has been gained to 
the State asylums, but the majority have been of necessity retained in 
the Bureau hospitals, and all that could be done for them was to supply 
them with food and clothing and prevent them from doing injury. 

For more than a year the great aim has been to relieve the govern¬ 
ment by transferring to the civil authorities all these dependent classes 
for future care and treatment. To this end medicines and hospital stores 
have been furnished as an outfit, where State or municipal governments 
have consented to assume charge of destitute sick and disabled freed- 
men within their own borders. By means of this aid and by patient 
and persistent effort, the hospitals, at one time numbering fifty-six, (56,) 
have been reduced to two, (2,) and one (1) of these is about being closed.* 
There will then remain one (1) freed man’s hospital in this district, which 
cannot at present be dispensed with, and whose continuance for some 
years humanity and necessity will require. 

In addition to the sick, many others were destitute and required aid. 
To relieve this destitution without encouraging pauperism and idleness 
was a difficult problem. I found, when I took charge of this work, that 
very large issues of rations and clothing were being made by military 
commanders. The number of persons relieved by the Commissary De¬ 
partment in the month of August, 1865, was one hundred and forty- 
eight thousand one hundred and twenty, (148,120,) and many freedmen 
. and poor whites seemed to expect permanent support from this source. 
But in the succeeding month, when the Bureau had been sufficiently or¬ 
ganized to take the entire supervision of this grat uitous relief, by a rigid 
examination of every applicant, and by the rejection of all who could 
support themselves by labor, the number assisted was reduced to sev¬ 
enty-four thousand nine hundred and fifty-one, (74,951.) And from that 
date a constant reduction was made, so that the average number of ra¬ 
tions issued per day during the year ending September 1, 1866, was 
twenty-nine thousand eight hundred and nineteen, (29,819,) and during 
the year ending September 1,1867, eleven thousand six hundred and fifty- 
eight (11,658) in this district and throughout all the southern States. 

These supplies were given to none but the helpless destitute classes 
of refugees and freedmen, the sick, the very old, and orphans too young 
to earn their own support. I did not feel authorized to furnish relief to 


* For tabular statement of commissary supplies issued, see Appendix B. 



freedmen’s bureau and abandoned lands. 


7 


other classes. And when, early in 18G7, very urgent appeals for help 
came up from many industrious laborers who were reduced to the verge 
of starvation, the subject was laid before Congress, and by joint resolu¬ 
tion approved March 30, 18G7, the Secretary of War was “ directed to 
issue, through this Bureau, supplies of food sufficient to prevent starva¬ 
tion and extreme want, to any and all classes of destitute or helpless 
persons in those southern and southwestern States where failure of the 
crops and other causes have occasioned widespread destitution.” In 
accordance with this resolution five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) 
were set apart as a special relief fund,* and food was given to fifty- 
eight thousand three hundred and forty-three (58,343) persons daily for 
a period of tour months, no distinction being made between whites and 
blacks, loyal and disloyal. Adding these to the number of refugees and 
freedmen before given, the average number of persons daily assisted in 
the year ending September 1, 1867, was thirty-one thousand one hun¬ 
dred and five, (31,105.) During the next year, ending September 1,18G8, 
the average number assisted was sixteen thousand eight hundred and 
four, (16,804;) and during the last year, ending September 1, 1869, the 
average number has beenf one thousand nine hundred and eighty-three, 
(1,983,) many of whom were children receiving half rations only. Dur¬ 
ing the same period clothing has been purchased and distributed among 
the destitute at a cost of two hundred and fifty-two thousand five hun¬ 
dred and forty-seven dollars and thirty-five cents, ($252,547 35.) In ad¬ 
dition to this, a large amount of army clothing, condemned as unfit for 
issue to troops, was transferred to this Bureau by the Quartermaster’s 
Department and given to the poor and needy. 

This exhibit of rations and clothing furnished shows that the Bureau 
has not been a pauperizing agency. It has not encouraged idleness and 
vagrancy. It has not existed for the benefit of able-bodied beggars. 
The wonder is not that so many, but that so few, have needed help; that 
of the four millions of people thrown suddenly upon their own resources 
only one in about two hundred has been an object of public charity; 
and nearly all who have received aid have been persons who, by reason 
of age, infirmity, or disease, would be objects of charity in any State 
and at any time. 

It would have been impossible to reach such satisfactory results, and 
reduce the issueof supplies to so small proportions, had not employment 
been found for a great multitude of able-bodied men and women, who, 
when first set free, knew not where to look for remunerative labor. I 
believed that the demand for labor was sufficient, and that the freedmen 
were willing to work. The majority of planters were anxious to culti¬ 
vate their lands, and their former slaves were equally anxious to earn 
an honest living. But each class naturally distrusted the other. The 
one feared to incur the risk and expense of planting without some secu¬ 
rity stronger than the stimulus of promised wages, that hired labor 
could be depended upon as permanent. The other very naturally feared 
to trust the intentions and promises of men who had always reaped the 
fruits of unpaid toil. I was appealed to for a settlement of this great 
labor question. Letters from all parts of the country besought me and 
my assistant commissioners to enforce a specific rate of wages, and to 
exercise power in one way or another over the laborer to compel him to 
work. All such appeals were resisted. Officers and agents of the 

* For report of the chief medical officer, and tabular statement, see Appendix A. 

tSee Circular No. 11, War Department, Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Aban¬ 
doned Lands, April 3, 1867. 



8 


freedmen’s bureau and abandoned lands. 


Bureau were instructed* to do all in their power to remove prejudice, to 
restore mutual confidence, and to quicken and direct the industry of the 
people. At the same time they were cautioned against giving counte¬ 
nance to any substitute for slavery. “Negroes must be free to choose 
their employers.” “ No fixed rate of wages will be prescribed, but the law 
of supply and demand must govern.” “ No substitute for slavery, like 
apprenticeship, without proper consent, or peonage, will be tolerated.”! 
While the rights of the freedmen were thus proclaimed in printed circu¬ 
lars and public addresses, care was also taken to instruct them in respect 
to their duties. They were assisted in finding good places and in mak¬ 
ing fair bargains. To secure fairness and inspire confidence on both 
sides, the system of written contracts was adopted- No compulsion was 
used, but all were advised to enter into written agreements and submit 
them to an officer of the Bureau for approval. The nature and obliga¬ 
tions of these contracts were carefully explained to the freedmen, and a 
copy filed in the office of the agent approving it, for their use in case 
any difficulty should arise between them and their employers. The 
labor imposed upon my officers and agents by this system was very 
great, as is evinced by the fact that in a single State not less than fifty 
thousand (50,000) such contracts were drawn in duplicate and filled up 
with the names of all the parties. But the result has been highly sat¬ 
isfactory. To the freedman, the Bureau office in this way became a 
school in which he learned the first practical business lessons of life, and 
from year to year he has made rapid progress in this important branch 
of education. Nor can it be doubted that much litigation and strife 
were prevented. It could not be expected that such vast and compli¬ 
cated machinery would work without friction. The interests of capital 
and labor very often clash in all communities. The South has not been 
entirely exempt from troubles of this kind. Some employers have been 
dishonest and have attempted to defraud the freedmen of just wages. 
Some laborers have been unfaithful and unreasonable in their demands. 
But in the great majority of cases brought before the Bureau for settle¬ 
ment, the trouble and misunderstanding have arisen from vague verbal 
bargains and a want of specific written contracts. A *few quotations 
from the reports of assistant commissioners w ill show that even in such 
an unfavorable condition of affairs as the late rebel States presented, 
free labor under the contract plan has proved a success. “In those dis¬ 
tricts where good wages have been paid no difficulty lias been found in 
employing freedmen. They have been working industriously and quietly. 
Many planters have expressed their approbation of the conduct of the 
freedmen, and given officers of the Bureau credit for aiding in settling 
labor upon just principles.” J “ The contract system works favorably. In 
one section it was complained that employers desired to turn off their 
laborers before the gathering of the crops. But few complaints are made 
against freedmen for* refusing to work. The approval of contracts by 
agents of the Bureau has had an excellent effect in securing a compli¬ 
ance w ith their provisions. The freedmen of the State have been almost 
universally at work and supporting themselves.”§ 

a The general condition of the freed people is promising. They have 
entered into contracts with a unanimity and willingness beyond the 

* See Circular No. 5, War Department, Bureau Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned 
Lands, May 30, 1865, 

t See Circular No. 11, War Department, Bureau Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned 
Lands, July 12, 1865. 

t Report of General O. Brown, assistant commissloner*of Virginia. 

§ Report of General I. C. Robinson, assistant commissioner of North Carolina. 





freedmen’s bureau and abandoned lands. 


9 


expectations of tlie most sanguine, and citizens and officers bring most 
flattering reports commendatory of their good conduct. Planters assert 
that in most cases they are doing more work than was ever done under 
the old system of forced labor.”* “ The Bureau still retains an important 
and vital relationship to the agricultural interest of the State. Planters 
depend upon it to some extent to make laborers reliable, freedmen that 
they may be aided in obtaining their wages. It is believed that the 
labor system of Georgia, as organized by the Bureau, if left at this time 
to the control of State agencies, would be practically broken up.”t 
u Bureau officers have extended supervision over freedmen’s contracts, 
and the result has been to the advantage of all. In not a single instance 
where contracts have been made in accordance with the mode prescribed 
by the Bureau has a complaint been made by either of the parties to the 
contract, while, on the other hand, when the Bureau has been ignored, 
complaints by both employe and employer have been frequent. The 
reason is obvious; both parties understand the contract when explained 
by the agent, and know that the influence of the Bureau will be thrown 
against the parties violating it, while in those contracts in which the 
Bureau is ignored a majority of the bargains are vague and ill-defined, 
meaning anything or nothing; many are mere verbal agreements, made 
without witness.”| “ Many planters in the wealthy districts, where a 
large number of freedmen are employed, acknowledge the aid rendered 
to the planting interests by the Bureau. They say that a lack of confi¬ 
dence existed between the freedmen and the planters until the assistant 
commissioner inaugurated a system by which freedmen could be employed 
and receive some security that their labor would be paid for. Officers 
of the Bureau visited plantations and explained the duties and rights of 
employer and employe; the result has been good.”§ a Tlie freedmen 
have worked well; most of them have by experience acquired sufficient 
knowledge not only to understand the obligations of contracts, but to 
enter into no agreement contrary to their apparent interests; and the 
policy of the assistant commissioner has been such as, while requiring 
freedmen to carry out their obligations, would compel employers to an 
equal observance of them.”|| 

“ Freedmen are working well, and abiding by their contracts in good 
faith. Officers of the Bureau retain control over the registration and 
supervision of the contract system, which is quite successful.”^ 

A vast amount of such testimony to the industry and progress of the 
freed people could be gathered from the records of this office, and it is con¬ 
firmed by the fact that the great mass of freedmen are now self-support 
ing, and that many have commenced planting and other business on 
their own account. In spite of all disorders that have prevailed and the 
misfortunes that have fallen upon many parts of the South, a good degree 
of prosperity and success has already been attained. To the oft-repeated 
slander that the negroes will not work, and are incapable of taking care 
of themselves, it is a sufficient answer that their voluntary labor has 
produced nearly all the food that has supported the whole people, besides 
a large amount of rice, sugar, and tobacco for export, and two millions 
of bales of cotton each year, on which was paid into the United States 
treasury during the years 18G6 and 1807 a tax of more than forty mil- 

* Report of General R. K. Scott, assistant commissioner of South Carolina. 

t Report of General D. Tilson, assistant commissioner of Georgia. 

X Report of General P. H. Sheridan, assistant commissioner of Louisiana. 

$ Report of General J. B. Kiddoo, assistant commissioner of Texas. 

|| Report of General A. C.*Gillem, assistant commissioner of Mississippi. 

II Report of General J. W. Sprague, assistant commissioner of Florida. 




10 


freedmen’s bureau and abandoned lands. 


lions of dollars, ($40,000,000.) It is not claimed that this result is wholly 
due to the care and oversight of this Bureau, hut it is safe to say, as it 
has been said repeatedly by intelligent southern men, that without the 
Bureau or some similar agency, the material interests of the country 
would have greatly suffered, and the government would have lost a far 
greater amount than has been expended in its maintenance. 

Probably much more might have been done to develop the industry 
and energy of the colored race if I had been able to furnish each family 
with a small tract of land to till for themselves; and it was the evident 
intention of the act establishing the Bureau to give it control of all 
abandoned lands solely for the jmrpose of assigning, leasing, or selling 
them to refugees and freedmen. But before arrangements could be per¬ 
fected for carrying out this intention, I was ordered by President Johnson 
to restore abandoned property to its former owners, upon their present¬ 
ing either a special pardon or the oath required by his own proclama¬ 
tion of amnesty, or that of his predecessor in office. This order rendered 
the tenure of the Bureau upon such property so uncertain, that the idea 
of dividing it and providing families with homesteads from it was, of 
necessity, given up. Still its possession for a short period was not 
entirely useless. Of the nearly eight hundred thousand (800,000) acres 
of farming land and about live thousand (5,000) pieces of town property 
transferred to this Bureau by military and treasury officers, or taken up 
by my assistant commissioners, enough was leased to produce a revenue 
of nearly four hundred thousand dollars ($400,000.) Some farms were 
set apart in each State as homes for the destitute and helpless, and a 
portion was cultivated by freedmen prior to its restoration. Many were 
bitterly disappointed when the plan contemplated by the act establish¬ 
ing the Bureau was abandoned, but the disaffection and trouble arising 
therefrom were overcome and settled without resort to violence. 

Some relief and compensation were given by the act of Congress 
approved June 21, 186G, which opened for entry, by colored and white 
men without distinction, all the public lands in the States of Alabama, 
Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Florida. Information was pub¬ 
lished through my officers and agents respecting the location and value 
of these public lands, and the mode of procedure, in order to obtan pos¬ 
session of them. Surveys were made and some assistance granted in 
transporting families to tlieir new homes.* Want of teams and farming 
implements, as well as opposition from their white neighbors, prevented 
many from taking the benefit of this homestead act; but about four 
thousand families have faced and overcome these obstacles, have acquired 
homes of their own, and commenced work with energy, building houses 
and planting. In a few instances freedmen have combined their means 
and purchased farms already under cultivation. They have everywhere 
manifested a great desire to become land-owners, a desire in the highest 
degree laudable and hopeful for their future civilization. ‘Next to a 
proper religious and intellectual training, the one thing needful to 
the freedmen is land and a home. Without that a high degree of civil¬ 
ization and moral culture is scarcely possible. So long as he is merely 
one of a herd working for hire, and living on another’s domain, he must 
be dependent and destitute of manly individuality and self-reliance. 

But the most urgent want of the freedmen was education; mid from 
the first I have devoted more attention to this than to any other branch 
of my work. 

My former reports on this subject and those of the general superin¬ 
tendent of education have been so full, that a very brief review only is 


See Appendix D. 




freedmen t s bureau and abandoned lands. 


11 


here needed. I found many schools already in existence in those 
localities that had been for some time within the lines of our armies , 
these had been established and maintained to a great extent by benevo¬ 
lent associations of the North. As early as September 17, 1861, the 
American Missionary Association commenced a school for “ contrabands” 
at Hampton, near Fortress Monroe. On the 8th of January, 1862, liev. 
Solomon Peck, 1). 1)., of Boston, established a school at Beaufort, 
. South Carolina. Another was opened at Hilton Head the same 
‘month by Barnard K. Lee, jr. A more general movement was inaugu¬ 
rated by the efforts of E. L. Pierce, esq., of Boston, and ltev. M. French; 
and on the 3d of March, 1862, about sixty (60) teachers and mission¬ 
aries were sent out by societies organized in Boston and New York. 
Others followed ; some working independently, others supported by local 
churches, and others by new relief associations formed in Philadelphia, 
Cincinnati, Chicago, and other towns. In the early part of 1861 an 
efficient school system was instituted in Louisiana by Major General 
Banks, then in command of that State. I did not attempt to supersede 
these benevolent agencies already engaged in the work of education, 
but gave them every possible facility for continuing and enlarging their 
operations. Though no appropriations had been granted by Congress 
for this purpose, by using the funds derived from rents of u abandoned 
property,” by fitting up for school-houses such government buildings 
as were no longer needed for military purposes, by giving transportation 
for teachers, books, and school furniture, and by granting subsistence, 
I was able to give material aid to all engaged in the educational work. 
With the aim to harmonize the numerous independent agencies in the 
field, and to- assist all impartially, I appointed a superintendent of 
schools for each State,* who should collect information, encourage the 
organization of new schools, find homes for teachers, and supervise the 
whole work. The law of July 16, 1866,f sanctioned all that had been 
previously done, and enlarged my powers. It authorized the lease of 
buildings for the purposes of education, and the sale of u Confederate 
States” property to create an educational fund. Appropriations were 
also made for the u rental, construction, and repairs of school buildings.” 
This enabled me to give a more permanent character to the schools, and 
to encourage the establishment of institutions of a higher grade. In 
each State at least one normal school has been organized for the training 
of teachers, and several chartered colleges for the freed people are already 
in successful operation. In addition to these, an institution of still 
higher grade, a university, has been founded in this District, incorpor¬ 
ated by Congress, and designed to furnish facilities for classical, scientific, 
and professional culture. In all the schools of every grade the number 
of pupils has steadily increased, and the standard of scholarship has 
rapidly advanced. At the end of the first year, July 1, 1866, the offi¬ 
cial report gave nine hundred and seventy-five (975) schools, one 
thousand four hundred and five (1,405) teachers, and ninety thousand 
seven hundred and seventy-eight (90,778) pupils. In 1867 the numbers 
reported were one thousand eight hundred and thirty-nine (1,839) schools, 
two thousand and eighty-seven (2,087) teachers, and one hundred and 
eleven thousand four hundred and forty-two (111,442) pupils. In 1868 
there were one thousand eight hundred and thirty-one (1,831) schools, 
two thousand two hundred and ninety-five (2,295) teachers, and one 
hundred and four thousand three hundred and twenty-seven (104,327) 

* See Circular No. 11, War Department, Bureau Refugees, Freedweu and Abaudoned 
Lands, July 12, 1865. 

t House resolution, No, 613. 






12 


freedmen’s bureau and abandoned lands. 


pupils; and in 1869, official reports give two thousand one hundred and 
eighteen (2,118) schools, two thousand four hundred and fifty-five (2,455) 
teachers, and one hundred and fourteen thousand five hundred and 
twenty two (114,522) pupils. 

These figures do not include many evening and private schools which 
have not been reported. It is believed that not less than two hundred 
and fifty thousand (250,000) colored adults and children have received 
some instruction during the past year.* Too much praise cannot be 
bestowed upon the noble band of Christian teachers who have carried on 
successfully this work of education. Many of them have come from the 
very best circles of refined and cultivated society, and have been exposed 
to privations, hardships, and perils which would have discouraged any 
who were not moved by the spirit of the Divine Teacher. To them 
belongs the credit in great measure for all that lias been accomplished. 
They have done the hard work; they have been the rank and file in the 
long fight with prejudice and ignorance. When they first entered the 
field as teachers, so general and bitter was the opposition to the educa¬ 
tion of the blacks, that scarcely one white family dared to welcome them 
with hospitality. When they were insulted and assailed, very few had 
the courage to defend them; but their good conduct finally overcame 
prejudice, and better sentiments have gradually grown up in many parts 
of the South. Hostility to teachers and schools has in a great measure 
ceased. Since the freedmen have been invested with all the rights and 
privileges of freemen, and already exert a powerful political influence, it 
is admitted by all intelligent and fair-minded people that they must be 
educated, or they will become the tools of demagogues, and a power for 
evil rather than for good. This necessity has already led to the organi¬ 
zation of a system of free schools in some of the reconstructed States. 
Until this is done in every State, and such public schools are in prac¬ 
tical operation, the safety of the country, and especially of the South, 
will demand the continuance, by some agency, of the educational work 
now carried on by this Bureau. Not only this, but means should be pro¬ 
vided for greatly extending these operations to meet the wants of the 
whole people. The foregoing report shows that not more than one-tenth 
of the children of freedmen are attending school. Their parents are not 
yet able to defray the expenses of education. They are already doing 
something, probably more in proportion to their means than any other 
class. During the last year it is estimated that they have raised and 
expended for the construction of school-houses and the support of 
teachers not less than two hundred thousand dollars, ($200,000.) They 
have shown a willingness to help, and as they prosper and acquire prop¬ 
erty, they will assume a larger share of the burden, either by voluntary 
contributions or by the payment of taxes for the support of schools. 

The poverty of the freed people has been in some slight degree 
relieved by the payment of bounties and other moneys due from the gov¬ 
ernment to soldiers, sailors and marines. These payments have been 
made through this Bureau, in accordance with a joint resolution of 
Congress approved March 29, 1867. Previous to that time the claims 
of colored soldiers were paid upon their order to the attorneys and 
claim agents who had prepared and forwarded the applications. Great 
complaint was made that the soldiers were defrauded of their money. 
Some attorneys, after getting possession of a large number of claims, 
held the papers, and then, by representing that it would require years 
to untie the red tape in Washington and get them settled, they bought 

* For tabular statement ami abstract of the general superintendent’s report, see 
Appendix E. 



freedmen’s bureau and abandoned lands. 


13 


them at a small percentage of their value. Others charged exorbitant 
fees, which often ate up nearly the whole amount paid. Others, with 
apparent generosity, offered to collect the claims for a share of the pro¬ 
ceeds, or to advance a part of the sum due, taking a note for the amount, 
with interest, at the rate of fifty, one hundred, and in some cases as high 
as one hundred and fifty per cent. By numerous crafty devices, dis¬ 
honest villainy imposed upon confiding ignorance, and the colored sol¬ 
diers became the victim*?. They appealed to the Bureau for protection 
against such wrongs. At first all that could be done was to prepare for 
those who still retained their claims the necessary papers for the prose¬ 
cution and settlement of the same without fees, thus saving large sums 
which would otherwise have gone into the pockets of claim agents. 
But so long as payments were made to attorneys, a wide door for fraud 
was left open. The laws of July 20,1800, and of March 29,1807, provided 
for the protection of claimants, as far as law can do it. The exact 
fees to be allowed to claim agents are prescribed; all checks and treas¬ 
ury certificates issued in the settlement of claims of colored soldiers 
are required u to be made payable to the Commissioner of the Freed- 
men’s Bureau,” and no money, lawful fees excepted, can be paid to any 
other person than the claimant, or his legal representatives if deceased. 
No transfer nor assignment of such claims can be recognized; the 
claimant himself must be discovered and identified, and the amount 
due him be paid intohisown hands u in current funds, and not in checks 
or drafts.” 

The duties imposed by these laws upon my officers and agents have 
been very difficult. To discover, identify, and pay claimants scattered 
throughout every State and Territory, has been a great and perplexing 
task. But by the assignment of a few agents in each southern State to 
this special duty, so that they may become familiar with the business in 
all its details, it is done with accuracy and fidelity. Since April 17,1867, 
when the first treasury certificate was received, the total amount paid 
(including lawful fees and expenses) ^as been five millions eight hundred 
and thirty-one thousand four hundred and seventeen dollars and eighty- 
nine cents, ($o,831,417 89.) 

The balance in the United States treasury now due to claimants who 
have not yet been u discovered and identified,” is one million two hund¬ 
red and twenty thousand six hundred and sixty-six dollars and fifty-two 
cents, ($1,220,666 52.) 

A complete and minute record of every case is kept, so that its entire 
history may be easily traced. 

Four thousand six hundred and four claims have been already filed 
and settled through this Bureau, and three thousand three hundred and 
eleven filed by it are now pending settlement. Eighteen thousand such 
claims of colored soldiers are now on file in the Auditor’s Office awaiting 
settlement, and six thousand certificates in settlement of claims are now 
temporarily suspended in the same office. The number of claims of col¬ 
ored sailors and their heirs on file in the Fourth Auditor’s Office is not 
definitely known, but it is probably proportionately large. And in addi¬ 
tion to those now pending it is believed that there are at least twenty- 
five thousand claims outstanding for which no applications have as yet 
been made. Much therefore must yet be done to complete the business 
of paying bounties; and it is believed that the system now in operation 
will accomplish it as honestly and economically as any that can be de¬ 
vised. It is not possible by any machinery to furnish absolute security 
to both claimants and the government against fraud. The inventions 
of cupidity are almost infinite; and when no other scheme is successful, 


14 


freedmen’s bureau and abandoned lands. 


the last resort of baffled dishonesty is to turn upon the Bureau agent, 
with false charges in the public prints, for the purpose of getting him 
disgraced and removed.* 

So far as I have had authority and power I have endeavored to pro¬ 
tect the freedmeu from all kinds of abuse and injustice to which they 
were exposed in a region for a time destitute of civil government, and 
among a people bitterly hostile to their emancipation. Their free¬ 
dom had been guaranteed by the proclamation of President Lincoln 
and by the laws of Congress, and to this Bureau was committed the 
trust of making good the solemn pledge of the nation. The methods 
pursued have differed according to circumstances. Under general in¬ 
structions approved by the President,! the assistant commissioners insti¬ 
tuted a great variety of means and expedients to settle disputes, “ ad¬ 
judicate difficulties arising between negroes themselves, or between 
negroes and whites,” and to bring offenders to justice. In all important 
eases where civil courts existed they were first resorted to j but when 
such courts would not admit the testimony of negroes nor treat them as 
equals before the law with whites, appeal was made to military tribunals 
or under the civil rights bill J to the United States courts. In some 
districts provost courts were established by the military commanders, in 
others u freedmen’s courts,” and u boards of arbitration,” consisting of 
Bureau officers and citizens, for the settlement of ordinary complaints. 
The cases brought before these courts, and the reports of their proceed¬ 
ings, show that instances of violence and cruelty toward freedmeu 
have been very numerous, and that the duties of Bureau officers have 
been complicated and perplexing. One assistant commissioner reports§ 
three thousand four hundred and five (3,405) cases adjudicated in a 
single quarter, which, taken as a fair exponent of the business, gives 
more than one hundred thousand (100,000) complaints heard and acted 
upon by Bureau officers in a single year. The reports of murders, 
assaults, and outrages of every description were so numerous, and so 
full of horrible details, that at times one was inclined to believe the 
whole white population engaged in a war of extermination against the 
blacks. But careful investigation has proved that the worst outrages 
were generally committed by small bands of lawless men, organized 
under various names, whose principal objects were robbery and plunder. 
There was no civil government with strength enough to arrest them, 
and they overawed and held in terror the more quiet citizens who were 
disposed to treat the freedmen with fairness and humanity. But for 
the presence of Bureau officers, sustained by a military force, there 
would have been no one to whom these victims of cruelty and wrong 
could have appealed for defense. And the evils remedied have prob¬ 
ably been far less than the evils prevented. No one can tell what 
scenes of violence and strife and insurrection the whole South might 
have presented, without the presence of this agency of the government 
to preserve order and to enforce justice. Several officers and agents 
have been severely wounded, and some have lost their lives in this 
service. Fallen in the faithful discharge of duty, in brave defense of 
right, in heroic protection of the weak and poor, their names deserve a 
place on their country’s “ Boll of Fame.” 

When the Bureau was established it was believed that the abandoned 
lands and other captured “ Confederate States ” property, which came 

* For tabular statement and report of the chief of the claim division see Appendix F 

tSee Circular No. 5, War Department, Bureau R. F. and A. L., May 30, 1865. 

t Section 61, April 9, 1866. 

$ Report of assistant commissioner of North Carolina. 



freedmen ’s bureau and abandoned lands. 


15 


under charge of the Bureau by the terms of the law creating it, would 
furnish a sufficient revenue for its support. Therefore, no appropria¬ 
tions were made by Congress to defray its expenses until July, 1806, 
after the greater portion of the “abandoned property” had been re¬ 
stored to its former owners. The money accrued before and since the 
organization of this Bureau from rent of lands, sale of crops, school 
taxes and tuition, and sale of “Confederate States” property, and all 
miscellaneous sources, was collected together and called the “ Refugees 
and Freedmen’s Fund” and the “ School Fund,” and has amounted to 
one million eight hundred and sixty-five thousand six hundred and 
forty-five dollars and forty cents, ($1,805,015 10.) 

Appropriations by Congress for the fiscal year ending 


July 1,1807. $0, 914, 450 00 

For the fiscal year ending July 1, 1808. 3, 830,300 00 

For relief of destitute citizens in this District. 40,000 00 

For relief of destitute freedmen in this District. 15, 000 00 

For expenses of paying bounties in 1809. 214,000 00 

For the support of hospitals. 50, 000 00 


Making a total, received from all sources, of... 12, 905, 395 40 


The expenditures from the organization of the Bureau, (including 
assumed accounts of the “ Department of Negro Affairs,”*) from Janu¬ 
ary 1, 1805, to August 31, 1809, have been eleven millions two hundred 
and forty-nine thousand and twenty-eight dollars and ten cents, 
($11,249,028 10.) In addition to this cash expenditure the subsistence, 
medical supplies, quartermaster stores, issued to refugees and freedmen 
prior to July 1, 1806, were furnished by the Commissary, Medical, and 
Quartermaster’s Department, and accounted for in the current expenses 
of those departments; they were not charged to nor paid for by this 
Bureau. They amounted to two millions three hundred and thirty thou¬ 
sand seven hundred and eighty-eight dollars and seventy-two cents 
($2,330,788 72) in original cost; but a large portion of these stores 
being damaged and condemned as unfit for issue to troops, their real 
value to the government was probably less than one million of dollars, 
($1,000,000.) Adding their original cost to the amount expended from 
appropriations and other sources, the total expenses of the Bureau, from 
its organization to August 31, 1869, have been thirteen millions five 
hundred and seventy-nine thousand eight hundred and sixteen dollars 
and eighty-two cents, ($13,579,810 82.) And deducting fifty thousand 
dollars ($50,000) transferred to the Agricultural Department, and five 
hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) set apart as a special relief fund 
for all classes of destitute people in the southern States, in accordance 
with joint resolution of Congress approved March 30, 1807, the real cost 
of the Bureau has been thirteen millions twenty-nine thousand eight 
hundred and sixteen dollars and eighty-two cents, ($13,029,810 82.) 

The balance remaining on hand will be entirely devoted to the sup¬ 
port of the bounty ancl educational divisions and the one hospital 
remaining in this District.! 

* In nearly all the southern States the interests of the freed people during the war 
were under the control of military officers assigned by the War Department. Thus 
was created the “ Department of Negro Affairs,” and their accounts were assumed by 
this Bureau from January 1, 1865. 

t For detailed statement of receipts and expenditures and report of the chief dis¬ 
bursing officer, see Appendix G. 













16 


feeedmen’s bureau and abandoned lands. 


To this hospital, and to these divisions still in operation, I desire to 
call your special attention. No one can visit the hospital and become 
acquainted with the condition of its patients without seeing the neces¬ 
sity of maintaining it for some years. Its inmates are from.all parts of 
the country. It would not be just to require the citizens ot this District 
to provide for them. They are national paupers, and so long as they 
live their misery should be alleviated as far as possible at the nation s 


expense. 

It is equally obvious that the payment of bounties and other moneys 
due colored soldiers must be continued by some agency until all shall 
have a reasonable time to present their claims. National honor forbids 
that the work should be left incomplete, and an act of Congress will be 
required to transfer it to some other department if this Bureau shall be 
entirely closed. 

The educational work should not only be continued but greatly ex¬ 
tended. If the State governments are not prepared nor willing to pro¬ 
vide for the education of all classes, (as I hope they soon will do,) I 
recommend that the general government take the matter in hand. 
u The safety of the republic is the supreme law.” There can be no 
safety nor permanent peace when ignorance reigns. The law of self- 
preservation will justify the national legislature in establishing through 
the Bureau of Education, or some other agency, a general system of 
free schools, and furnishing to all children of a suitable age such instruc¬ 
tion in the rudiments of learning as may be necessary to fit them to 
discharge intelligently the duties of free American citizens. 

Very respectfully, 

O. O. HOWARD, 

Brevet Major General , Commissioner. 


General W. T. Sherman, 

Secretary of War. 


Appendix A. 

CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER’S REPORT. 

General : In compliance with instructions received from Brevet Major General O. 0. 
Howard, Commissioner, I have the honor to present the following report of the medical 
department Bureau Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands for the year com¬ 
mencing July 1, 1868, and ending June 20, 1869. 

The number of freedmen’s hospitals in operation in the southern States on July 1, 
1868, was twenty-one, (21,) the number of dispensaries (where medicines were furnished 
to those who applied for them) was forty-eight, (48.)—(See Table A.) 

During the period embraced in this report, special attention has been devoted to the 
contracting as rapidly as possible the operations of the medical department of the 
Bureau. .Just as far as the southern States became reconstructed and provided with 
the requisite State and municipal organizations, which enable them to take charge of 
their own poor, the hospitals were turned over to them. In no case, however, were 
the hospitals closed until arrangements had previously been made for the care and sup¬ 
port of the helpless inmates. In many cases the Commissioner, as an inducement to 
the State and city authorities to assume charge of the hospital, donated to them the 
partly worn hospital furniture, medicines, Ac., on condition that the United States gov¬ 
ernment should be relieved from the future support of the patients. 

The closing of the hospitals, above referred to, was carried on continuously during 
1868, and during the earlier part of 1869 the hospitals at Talladega, Alabama, New 
Orleans, Louisiana, Vicksburg, Mississippi, and Louisville, Kentucky, were also closed, 
leaving open on June 30, 1869, only two freedmen hospitals, one located at Richmond, 
Virginia, and one at Washington, D. C. 

Thus it will be seen that since the date of the last annual report, the number of 
hospitals has decreased from twenty-one (21) to two, (2,) and of the forty-eight (48) 



freedmen’s bureau and abandoned lands. 17 

dispensaries open at the date of last report, not one is now in operation in the southern 
States. 

Brevet Colonel and Surgeon L. A. Edwards continued acceptably to perforin the du¬ 
ties of-chief medical officer, until he was, (at his own request,) on April 6,1869, re¬ 
lieved, and succeeded by Dr. R. Reyburn. 

The number of patients remaining under treatment in the hospitals at Richmond, 
Virginia, is two hundred and thirty-nine, (239,) and at Washington, D. C\, is three 
hundred and two, (302;) total live hundred and forty-one, (541.) 

The vast majority of these patients are so helpless, either from old age or bodily 
infirmity, that they will require to be supported from some source during the remain¬ 
der of their lives. In the hospital at Richmond there are at present seventy-one (71) 
insane colored patients. The proper disposal of these persons has been a source of great 
embarrassment on account of there being no accommodations at either of the State 
asylums at Staunton or Williamsburg, Virginia, for their reception. 

In order to obviate this difficulty, I would respectfully recommend that a temporary 
building be erected adjoining the hospital building at Washington, D. C., which will 
contain these insane patients, and that as soon as it is completed they be removed to 
Washington, 1). C. The hospital at Richmond can then be closed, thus effecting a 
large saving annually to the government. 

The number of freed people treated during the year has been sixty-five thousand 
seven hundred and ninety-two, (65,792;) of these thirteen hundred and forty-one (1,341) 
have died, being two (2) per cent, of those under treatment.—(See Table B.) 

The number of white refugees under treatment by the medical officers on duty in the 
Bureau during the year was twelve hundred and sixty-six (1,266 ;) of these eighteen 
(18) died, being 1 Avo of the number treated.—(See Table C.) 

The total number of patients treated during the year was sixty-seven thousand two 
hundred and thirty-eight, (67,238,) and the total number of deaths was thirteen hun¬ 
dred and fifty-nine, (1,359.) 

The number of births in hospital and elsewhere attended by medical officers of the 
Bureau was seven hundred and sixty, (760;) vaccinations, one hundred and eight, 
(108.)—(See Table D.) 

The number of medical officers at date of last report was fifty-seven, (57.)—(See Table 
E.) This number has been reduced, by the closing of hospitals and dispensaries, to 
five, (5,) which is the present number. 

No epidemics or contagious diseases have appeared among the freed people during 
the past year. 

The closing of so many hospitals has necessitated the severing of the ties that have 
so pleasan+ly united the chief medical officer with the physicians on duty in the Bureau, 
and it is his pleasing duty to bear witness to the conscientious, able, and upright manner 
in which they have been performed. How irksome, fatiguing, and even dangerous their 
duties have been, is entirely unknown to and unappreciated by the public. Where so 
many excelled, it may appear invidious to distinguish, yet the energy and marked ad¬ 
ministrative ability of Dr. 31. K. Hogan, surgeon-in-chief, district of South Carolina, and 
late brevet colonel and surgeon United States volunteers, entitle him to special mention. 

The services of Dr. J. J. De Lamater, surgeon-in-cliief, district of Virginia, late bre¬ 
vet lieutenant colonel and surgeon United States volunteers, and Dr. D. R. Brower, late 
acting assistant surgeon United States Army, of the State of Virginia, have been of the 
most valuable and efficient character, as were also those of Dr. P. Glennon, late assist¬ 
ant surgeon United States volunteers, on duty in the hospital at Washington, D. C. 

*The records of the office show that about a half million of recorded cases have been 
treated by the physicians employed in the Bureau, and it will be quite safe to consider 
that at least an equal number have been prescribed for where cases have not been 
recorded, thus making at least one million of persons who have received medical assist¬ 
ance during the existence of the Bureau. 

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

ROBERT REYBURN, 

Chief Medical Officer Bureau B., F. and A. A. 

Bvt. Brig. Gen. H. M. Whittlesey, 

Acting Assistant Adjutant General , Bureau B., F.and A. L. 


II. Ex. Doc. 142-2 



18 freedmen’s bureau and abandoned lands. 

A .—Table exhibiting the number of hospitals , dispensaries, and outdoor stations in operation 

during the year ending June 30, 1869. 



Hospitals. 

Dispensaries and 
outdoor stations. 

Districts. 

fcD 

*-£ 00 

CC CO 

•RS 

a? „ 

P-* i-H 

r in oper- 

June 30, 

June 30, 1869, ca¬ 
pacity—beds. 

t existing 

1 , 1868 . 

pH 

C CO 

P <2 
° 3 

• 

S3 

p ^ 

Numbe 

ation 

1869. 

Occupied. 

Vacant. 

IS 

£ 

Numbe 

ation 

1869. 


2 

1 

302 

4 

4 



2 

1 

239 

61 

6 



1 



6 



2 




12 



3 




4 



3 






Florida 4 -- .. 

1 




1 



1 




3 



1 




5 


A 7 ‘lv D TI Rft S . _ .. 

3 




o 


Kontijuicy - .-. 

1 




5 


- . ----- . 

1 













Total -. . 

21 

O 

541 

65 

48 



r 



B .—Consolidated report of freedmen treated and died during the period commencing July 1, 
1868, and ending June 30, 1869, together with the number remaining under treatment at the 
latter date. 


Districts. 

Treated. 

Died. 

Percentage of deaths. 

Remaining under 
treatment June 

30, 1869. 

Adult males. 

Adult females. 

Male children. 

Female children. 

Total. 

Adult males. 

Adult females. 

s 

pH 

o 

6-H 

Female children. 

Total. 

Adult males. 

Adult females. 

Male children. 

Female children. 

Total. 

Columbia. 

956 

1,158 

314 

318 

2, 746 

69 

48 

26 

20 

163 

5. 93 

142 

137 

7 

16 

302 

Virginia . 

3, 992 

8 , 867 

2, 705 

2, 752 

18, 316 

129 

141 

83 

95 

448 

2. 44 

106 

113 

3 

16 

238 

North Carolina. 

510 

736 

539 

587 

2, 372 

21 

29 

18 

32 

100 

4.22 






South Carolina. 

5,177 

7, 371 

3,240 

3. 305 

19, 093 

31 

38 

38 

29 

136 

. 71 






Georgia. 

2, 772 

2, 927 

1,155 

1,146 

8 , 002 

24 

15 

2 

6 

47 

. 58 






Alabama. 

79 

89 

66 

-55 

' 289 

2 

2 

.... 

1 

5 

1. 73 






Florida. 

208 

151 

153 

141 

653 

2 

a 

4 

2 

10 

1 53 






Louisiana . 

975 

921 

772 

732 

3, 400 

107 

62 

34 

24 

227 

6 . 67 






Mississippi. 

893 

978 

639 

515 

3, 025 

35 

22 

11 

11 

79 

2. 24 






Arkansas. 

661 

776 

182 

163 

1, 782 

13 

8 



21 

1. 17 






Kentucky. 

1,659 

2, 442 

869 

860 

5, 830 

20 

23 

24 

25 

92 

1. 57 






Tennessee. 

88 

228 

76 

72 

464 

7 

5 


1 

13 

2 . 80 

**** 






















Total. 

17, 970 

26, 644 

10, 710 

10, 648 

65, 972 

460 

395 

240 

246 

1, 341 

2. 03 





540 





























































































































19 


freedmen’s bureau and abandoned lands. 


C .—Consolidated report of refugees treated and died during the year commencing July 1, 1868, 
and ending June 30, 1869, together with the number remaining on hand at the latter date. 


Districts. 

f 

Treated. 

Died. 

Percentage of deaths. 

Remaining sick June 
30, 1869. 

Adult males. 

Adult females. 

Male children. 

Female children. 

Total. 

Adult males. 

Adult females. 

Male children. 

Female children. 

Total. 

Adult males. 

Adult females. 

Male children. 

Female children. 

Total. 

Columbia. 

















Virginia. 












1 




1 

North Carolina. 

















South Carolina. 

259 

525 

149 

157 

1,090 

4 

4 

3 

0 

11 

1 . 00 






Georgia. 
















Alabama. 



. 














Florida. 



. 














Louisiana. 

















Mississippi. 

89 

12 

4 


105 

1 




1 

.94 






Arkansas. 

39 

24 

4 

4 

71 

5 

1 



6 

8 . 45 






Kentucky. 
















Tennessee. 



_ 
















l I 













Total. 

387 

561 

157 

161 

1 , 266 

10 

5 

3 

.... 

18 

1.4-2 

1 




l 


D .—Report of births and vaccinations during the year commencing July 1, 1868, and ending 

June 30, 1869. 



Births. 

Vaccinated. 

Revaccinated. 


Districts. 

In hospital. 

Elsewhere. 

Total. 

Successfully. 

>> 

<2 

8 

00 

O 

u 

ZJ 

c 

00 

<£ 

CJ 

& 

OD 

0> 

o 

o 

Total. 

• 

Male. 

Female. 

Male. 

Female. 


3 

ao 

G 

P 

O 

o 

& 

00 

p 


Columbia .. 

42 

3, 

38 

*5 

• 142 






Vircrinia 

16 

17 

92 

98 

223 






~Mnrth ('arolinn, . 

10 

14 

96 

111 

231 






South Carolina. 

4 

2 

29 

33 

68 

30 

n 

5 

6 

52 

Geer on a 

10 

3 

13 



A lfihnma, _. 

3 

2 

5 






Florida, . _ . 










XfOviittiftTifl, 

7 

10 



17 






Mississippi 

3 

2 



5 

26 

30 



56 

Arkansas __ 








TCe.ntn r*k y 



28 

25 

53 






Tennessee 

2 

1 

3 

















Total. 

94 

86 

286 

294 

760 

56 

41 

5 

6 

108 















































































































20 freedmen’s bureau and ABANDONED -LANES. 

E — Table exhibiting the number of medical officers and hospital attendants in the Bureau 

during the year ending June 30, 1869. 


Districts. 

Commissioned officers. 

Private physicians. 

Hospital attendants. 

Number on 
duty during 
the year 
ending June 
30, 1867. 

Number re¬ 
maining on 
duty June 
30,' 1869. 

Number on 
duty during 
the year 
ending June 
30, 1867. 

Number re¬ 
maining on 
duty June 
30,' 1869. 

Number on 
duty June 
30,' 1869. 

Number re¬ 
maining on 
duty J une 
30,' 1869. 

Columbia. 



4 

4 

36 

33 

Virginia. 



4 

1 

24 

20 

North Carolina. 

1 


4 


6 


South Carolina. 



13 


4 


Georgia. 





21 


Florida.1. 



ct 


6 


Alabama. 



3 


10 


Louisiana. 



4 


25 


Mississippi. 



4 


21 


Arkansas. 



4 


20 


Kentucky. 



6 


7 


Tennessee. 



1 


5 









Total. 

1 


56 

5 

185 

53 


Appendix B. 

CONSOLIDATED SUBSISTENCE REPORT. 

Number of rations issued to dependent refugees and freedmen in the different States and districts, 
respectively, from June 1, 1865, to January 1, 1869. 


Month. 


1865. 

June_ 

July. 

August.. 
September.. . 
October.. 
November 
December.... 

Total.... 

1866. 

January_ 

.February... 
March...... 

A pril. 

May_... . . 

June. 

July. 

August. 

September.. 

October. 

November. . 
December... 

Total... 

1867. 

January.... 
February... 


Refugees. 

Freedmen. 

Total. 

313, 627 
85, 412 
158, 624 
370, 633 
66 , 785 
54, 6504 
66 , 246 

36, 181 
282, 9081 
743, 957 

1 , 080, 010 
743, 244 
543, 479 
604, 5934 

349, 808 
308, 3801 
902, 581 

1, 450, 643 
810, 029 
698,1294 
670, 844 4 

1,115, 977| 

4,134, 438 

5, 250, 4154 

134, 848 
339, 957| 
382, 745J 
356, 246 
571, 993 
751, 327 
583, 949i 
350, 8781 
259, 368 

2, 771 

7, 584 

7, 565 

585, 5074 
648, 1084 
646, 3661 
552, 646J 
573, 885 
650, 724 2 
572, 5874 
540, 1274 
481, 677" 
182, 914 
168, 222 
184, 423 

720, 415.A 
988, 066 
1,029, 112 
908, 8924 
1, 145, 878 

1, 402, 05 U 

1, 076, 537 
891, 006 
741, 045 
185, 685 
175, 806 
191, 988 

3, 669, 233 

5, 787, 249J 

9, 456, 4824 

37, 836 
20, 042 

227, 037 
270, 415 

264, 873 
290, 457 


Month. 


Refugees. 


1867 


March. 

29,110 

271, 441 

April. 

49, 764 

280, 738 

May. 

42, 811 

320, 501 

June. 

100 , 228 

404, 286 

July. 

82, 907 

355, 510 

August. 

52, 562 

357, 461 

September..-. 

6 , 282 

166, 388| 

October. 

14, 226 1 

161, 929| 

November.. . 

11,532.1 

160, 449 

December.... 

10, 142 

133, 034 


Total. 


1868. 
January.. 
February. 


April. 
May.. 
J une. 


August 


Total.... 


457, 443 


20, 6051 
35, 778 
48, 757 
22, 495 
19, 002 
18, 356 
16, 0451 
14, 897 
16, 362 
13, 037 
13, 870 
9,109 


Freedmen. 


3, 110, 190 


141,.3951 
205, 9691 
221,1331 
189, 932 
310, 6411 
488, 428 
239, 8331 
144, 2241 
116, 1781 
107, 0651 

104, 068 

105, 717 


248, 314 


2, 374, 587 


Total. 


300, 551 
330, 502 
363,312 
504, 514 
438, 417 
410, 023 
172, 6701 
176, 156 
172, 981 i 
143,176' 


3, 567, 633 


162, 001 
241, 7471 
269, 8901 
212, 427' 
329, 6431 
506, 784 
255, 879 
159,1211 
132, 5401 
120 , 102 | 
117, 938 
114, 826 


2, 622, 901 


Total for years 1865, 1866, 1867, and 1868, 20,897,453. 


Oil the 1st day of January, 1869, the Bureau (with the exception of the educational, 
bounty, and claim departments) was withdrawn from the several States in which its 
operations had been conducted. Hospitals were, however, continued at Washington, 
D. C.; Richmond, Virginia; New Orleans, Louisiana; Vicksburg, Mississippif’ and 
Louisville, Kentucky. 























































































































freedmen’s bureau and abandoned lands. 21 


The total number of rations issued to inmates of hospitals from January 1, 1869, to 
September, 1869, was: 


District of Columbia. 114,722 

Virginia....’ 71 ’ 326 

Mississippi.;. 21 431 

Louisiana. 24’ 555 

Kentucky. G, 4(55 


Total.. .. 238,499 


Appendix D. 

TRANSPORTATION REPORT. 

Statement of transportation for passengers and stores furnished by Bureau of Itefufjees, Freed¬ 
men and Abandoned Lands, from May 5, 1865, to March 20, 1869, as shown by the records 
in the office of the chief quartermaster of this bureau. 


By whom authorized. 

Number of refugees 
transported. 

Number of freedmen 
transported. 

Officers & agents 

transported. 

Teachers trans¬ 

ported. 

Grand total of pas¬ 

sengers. 

c 2 

*** 

i 

v. O 

as 

o a 

M y, & 
£ 

Men. 

Women. 

Children. 

Total. 

Men. 

Women. 

Children. 

Total. 

From May 5, 1855, to Sept. 30, 1866, 













on orders issued from Adjutant 









* 




General's office. 

673 

561 

970 

2 204 

5, 046 

2,202 

1,261 

8, 509 

111 


10, 824 


From October 1, 1866. to Sept. 30, 








1867, on orders issued by chief 













quartermaster. 

226 

267 

227 

720 

7, 622 

5, 086 

3, 286 

15, 994 

185 

1,588 

18, 487 

4, 477 

On orders issued by assistant com- 













missioners. 

20 

23 

15 

58 

396 

319 

222 

937 

475 

16 

1,486 

8, 288 

From ‘October 1, 1867. to Sept. 30. 













1868, on orders issued by chief 













quarterterroaster. 

53 

94 

88 

235 

891 

1,129 

735 

2, 755 

130 

1,143 

4,263 

2, 055 

On orders issued by assistant com- 













missioners. 

105 

103 

98 

306 

659 

361 

187 

1,207 

655 

50 

2,218 

2,760 

On orders issued by chief quarter- 













master from October 1, 1868, to 













March 20, 1869 . 

33 

53 

84 

170 

8 

11 

10 

29 

203 

660 

1,062 

749 

On orders issued by assistant com- 













missioners... 

63 

70 

66 

199 

17 

72 


29 

37 

OO] 

497 

523 












Total. 

1,1734,171 

1, 548 3, 892 14, 639 

9,120 

5, 701 

29, 460 

1,790 3, 677 

j 

38,819 

18, 852 


Remarks. —The reports of the assistant commissioner of South Carolina for the 
months of July and August, 1867, show 162,222 pounds of bacon and pork, and 1,307,788 
pounds of corn, transported; the number of packages not being stated. The transport¬ 
ation of 25,000 feet of lumber is also reported in same manner by assistant commis- 
*• sioner of Louisiana. 

I certify that the above statement is correct. 

HENRY M. WHITTLESEY, 

Chief Quartermaster Bureau of Uefuejces , Freedmen and Abandoned Lands. 


Appendix E. 

ABSTRACT FROM EDUCATIONAL REPORT. 

The educational returns from the several State superintendents furnish evidence of 
decided progress. Difficulties indeed still continue, arising from prejudice, indifference, 
want of means—more especially during the last year; from political disturbances 
throughout the whole country, bringing into violent debate our cause and even the 
character of this Bureau, and also from agitation of the various unsettled southern ques¬ 
tions on the subject of reconstruction. But these difficulties have been in the main 




























































22 


freedmen’s bureau and abandoned lands. 


surmounted. The intrinsic excellence of the work, its general conduct under your di¬ 
rections, and the large, varied results have been their own testimonial, securing from 
all quarters high commendation. Organized opposition appears to have mainly ceased 
and favor toward schools for all , in most of the States, is publicly professed. 

From the freedmen themselves we continue to receive hearty response to all our ap¬ 
peals. Thirst for knowledge does not abate. A taste of it, and even its advanced attain¬ 
ments, only redoubled the desire. Productive industry is now furnishing them with 
means for paying tuition, and all of their color who, in our normal schools, have been 
prepared to teach, enter with alacrity upon the work, and pursue it with success. The 
benevolent associations do not tire. If some are doing less, others increase their efforts, 
and new agencies, especially under church organization, are coming into the field. An 
effort, the last year, almost unanimous, has been made to organize and endow high and 
training schools for the preparation of teachers. This effort has been eminently suc¬ 
cessful. Thirty-nine such schools, as will be seen, having 3,377 pupils, with many nor¬ 
mal classes, in those of a lower grade, are reported. 

While the above schools will be urged forward, attention will now be turned to the 
destitute populations in rural and remote districts, where, until recently, danger threat¬ 
ened our unprotected teachers. 

Superintendents have aided largely in distributing the Peabody fund, in nearly all of 
the States. This arrangement was made with Dr. Sears, the general agent of that fund, 
at the commencement of the year, and great good has thereby been accomplished at 
very little added expense. The late concentration of this Bureau more directly upon 
the work of education, meets with general approbation. This, the hearts of our friends 
at the North were set upon, and it has everywhere rejoiced the freedmen. We hope that 
our legislators will add a hearty approval, and increase the present appropriation to 
any reasonable amount which may be needed. At the opening of the coming school 
term superintendents generally will need some assistance; some States are larger, 
making it quite impossible for one man to traverse their extended territory, in¬ 
specting, noting destitutions, organizing new schools, procuring teachers, and reporting 
systematically the whole. If large results are hoped for, the force employed must be 
in due proportion. The present educational schedule of this Bureau contemplates in¬ 
creased results the coming year. Arrangements have been made by which a portion of 
current expense of all schools of thirty pupils each will be paid, while the construction 
of school-houses in destitute regions will be aided to the full extent of the means in 
hand. 

The people and Congress will decide upon the continuance of this educational organ¬ 
ization. We can only say that reports and correspondence from all quarters urge this ; 
the freedmen with united voice beg for it, and their friends both North and South are 
demanding continuance of governmental aid with arguments which seem unanswerable. 
We report larger numbers now than ever before, and yet it should be said that there 
are also many under instruction in inferior schools, usually with colored teachers, 
throughout all the interior of the southern States, but which do not in any way appear 
in our report. This is the home effort of this people after knowledge, imperfect, indeed, 
and with no outside patronage from any quarter. If such schools were counted a con¬ 
siderable larger number would appear. We ouly give in our report those within the 
actual knowledge of our superintendents. 

STATISTICAL SUMMARY. 

The following is a summary of the educational statistics, regularly reported on the 


blanks of this office: 

Schools, day and night. 2,118 

Schools, Sabbath. . 1,196 

Total. 3,314 

Teachers, day and night schools. 2, 455 

Teachers, Sabbath schools. 5 ? 454 

Total. 7,909 

Pupils, day and night schools. 114,522 

Pupils, Sabbath schools. 89,731 

Total. 204,253 


Of these pupils 192,227 are reported as having been slaves before the war. 

Of the above day and night schools, the freedmen sustained, wholly or in part, 1,581, 




















23 


freedmen’s bureau and abandoned lands. 


and are the owners of 759 of the buildings in which the schools are held. The Bureau 
furnished 772 of these buildings. The majority of these schools are conducted accord¬ 
ing to the most improved modern system. Many able instructors are successfully 
laboring in them, as is proved by the number of advanced schools, 312 of which are 
reported as graded. Some of these rival the same class of institutions in the North, of 
much longer standing. The average attendance of pupils in tin 1 day and night schools 
lias been 89,390, being 78 per cent, of the whole number enrolled. Pupils show a com¬ 
mendable perseverance in the pursuit of knowledge, 59 per cent, being always present, 
and 57 per cent, always punctual. 

Rapid progress in study is apparent: 43,740 being advanced readers; 36,992 studying 
geography; 51,172 arithmetic; 53,606 writing; and 7,627 are in higher branches. 
During the corresponding months of last year we had 39,578 advanced readers; 31,213 
studying geography; 48,268 arithmetic; 46,113 writing; and 5,712 higher branches, 
showing the following gratifying comparison: 


Increase of 1869 over 1868: 

Advanced readers. 4,168 

Geography. 5,797 

Arithmetic. 2,904 

Writing. 7,493 

Higher branches. 1, 915 


The freedmeu assist in support of their schools to the extent of their ability. As 
their condition is improved, their willingness to contribute for educational, as they 
always have for religious, interests, exhibits itself in the largely augmented amount 
paid for the support of schools. Forty-four thousand three hundred and eighty-six 
pupils paid $106,866 19 for tuition. This is by far the largest aggregate sum we 
have yet had the privilege of reporting; while many thousands of dollars were expended 
for board and salaries of teachers, and for construction of school-houses, of which we 
received no report, the actual amount of which would greatly increase the above sum. 

In the 39 high and training schools most of the students are preparing to become 
teachers, showing good proficiency in study, with general aptitude for the duties of 
their coming profession. The larger proportion of the 3,377 pupils in these institutions 
will, undoubtedly, go forth to train other minds in the same paths of knowledge. 
There are 17 industrial schools, conducted by a competent corps of teachers, having in 
all 980 pupils. Besides these, there are many normal and industrial classes in other 
schools, where pupils are instructed in teacher’s duties and domestic economy, with 
very gratifying success, reported as irregular schools. Besides the above schools, there 
are the following within the knowledge of our superintendents, but as yet not regu¬ 
larly reported by teachers. The facts stated of these schools, however, are undoubted, 
as superintendents are specially instructed to ascertain them : 


Schools, day and night. 794 

Schools, Sabbath. 316 

Total. 1,110 

Teachers, day and night schools. 902 

Teachers, Sabbath. 692 

Total. 1,594 


Pupils, day and night schools. 34,722 

Pupils, Sabbath. 17,378 

Total. 52,100 


Many of these schools are known to be instructed by well educated, experienced 
teachers, who are doing a noble work. Adding all of these to the regularly reported 
schools, we have an aggregate of— 


Total schools, (of all kinds). 4,424 

Total teachers, (of all kinds). 9,503 

Total pupils, (of all kinds)... 256,353 


This is the largest result we have yet reached, and, in comparison with the corre¬ 
sponding six months ot last year, shows an increase in— 

Schools, (of all kinds). 444 

Teachers, (of all kinds). 855 

Pupils, (of all kinds)... 16,407 































24 


freedmen’s bureau and abandoned lands. 


It should be noticed that teachers and pupils, as thus reported, are, in many cases, 
duplicated in consolidating the several kinds of schools. This is unavoidable, if each 
school (Sabbath and week day, or night) received credit for its own whole number. 
Our method shows the actual work in these several institutions, respectively, and 
in the summing up of the whole we state the total amount of personal tuition furnished, 
rather than the exact number of persons taught. 


EXPENDITURES. 


The total amount of expenditures of this Bureau for the support of schools from Janu¬ 
ary 1,1869, to June 30, 1869, is as follows : 


From school fund. $2,666 01 

From refugees and freedmen’s fund. 135,004 00 

From appropriation fund. 380, 964 99 


518,635 00 

For transportation of teachers and of school-books (estimated) charged to 

“transportation account” on books of disbursing officer. 4,700 00 

Total by Bureau. 523, 335 00 

By benevolent societies, churches, individuals, and from for¬ 
eign countries, (estimated). $365,000 00 

By freedmen, (estimated). 190,000 00 

- 555,000 00 

Grand total for educational purposes paid by all parties during the six 
months. 1,078,335 00 


Included in the figures above given is the sum of $56,693, which has been paid at 
these headquarters, immediately, to various benevolent associations under the new 
rental arrangement, at the rate of $10 per month for each school having an average 
attendance of 30 or more scholars. This aid has enabled these organizations largely to 
augment the number of teachers in the field, and we anticipate a still further increase 
next year if this aid is continued. 



SUMMARY 

BY STATES. 


Staten. 

Schools. 

Teachers. 

Pupils. 

Remarks. 

District of Columbia, Delaware, 

Day and night.335. 

364 

16, 335 

Of these, nine are high or training 

Maryland and West Virginia. 

Sabbath.107. 

381 

4, 0U9 

schools, with 510 pupils. 

Virginia. 

Day and night.398. 

427 

19. 608 

Of these, seven are high or train- 


Sabbath.195- 

872 

12, 577 

ing schools, with 363 pupils. 

North Carolina. 

Day and night.431. 

490 

20, 227 

Of these, four are high or train- 


Sabbath.413. 

1,413 

25, 275 

ing schools, with 110 pupils. 

South Carolina. 

Day and night,..70. 

157 

7,168 

Of these, two are high or train- 


Sabbath.40. 

237 

3, 969 

ing schools, with 388 pupils. 

Georgia. 

Day and night . 200. 

209 

10, 399 

Of these, one is a high or training 


Sabbath.143 

731 

17, 291 

school, with 45 pupils. 

Florida. 

Day and night..32. 

39 

1,507 



Sabbath.20. 

55 

1, 168 


Alabama. 

Day and night. 140 

183 

11,531 

Of these, one is a high or training 


Sabbath.49. 

244 

5,213 

school, with 54 pupils. 

Mississippi. 

Day and night 104. 

136 

5, 673 

Of these, one is a high or training 


Sabbath.61. 

246 

6, 179 

school, with 10 pupils. 

Louisiana..... 

Day and night.404. 

467 

17, 280 

Of these, two are high or training 


Sabbath.136. 

266 

7, 088 

schools, with 250 pupils. 

Texas. 

Day and night..95. 

90 

4,188 



Sabbath.74 

161 

4,328 


Arkansas. . 

Day and night. .27. 

33 

1,613 

Of these, two are high or training 


Sabbath.24. 

118 

1, 847 

schools, with 134 pupils. 

Tennessee. 

Day and night. 163. 

220 

10, 513 

Of these, five are high or training 


Sabbath.80. 

429 

6, 921 

schools, with 519 pupils. 


















































freedmen’s bureau and abandoned lands. 

Summary by Stales —Continued. 


25 


States. 

Schools. 

Teachers. 

Pupils. 

Remarks. 

Kentucky. 

Day and night 354 
Sabbath.170 

Day and night 153. 
Sabbath... 

337 

903 

165 

15, 022 
11,244 

8,180 

Of these, four are high or training 
schools, with 912 pupils. 

Of these, one is a high or training 
school, with 190 pupils. 

Total high or training schools, 39. 

Total pupils in same, 3,377. 

Missouri and Kansas. 

Total. 

Dayand night. 2,912. 

Sabbath.1,512. 



3, 357 

6,146 

149, 244 

107,109 



l or more general information in regard to the school work, reference may he had to 
the general superintendent’s report for July 1,1869. 


Appendix F. 

REPORT OF CLAIM DIVISION. 

War Department, 

Bureau Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands, 

Washington, D. C., October 20, 1869. 

General : I have the honor to submit for your consideration the following schedules, 
exhibiting the operations of the claim division of this Bureau, since the date of my last 
annual report. 

Schedule A, showing the prosecution by this office of claims of colored soldiers, sailors, and their 
heirs, during the year ending August 31, 1869. 

Number of claims pending settlement in the various departments at date 


of last annual report. 3,253 

Number awaiting completion of evidence. 576 

Total remaining unsettled. 3, 829 

Number of claims received since date of last report. 1,210 

Total. 5,039 

Number of claims settled. 1,728 

Number pending settlement in the various departments. 2,461 

Number awaiting completion of evidence. 850 

Total remaining unsettled... 3,311 

Total... 5,039 

Total value of certificates, checks, &c., received in settlement of claims filed 
by this office since the date of last annual report, and forwarded to the 
chief disbursing officer for payment. $’221, 365 68 

In the prosecution and payment of these claims, claimants have been subject to no 


expense, except for notarial fees required in the execution of papers. 

Schedule B, showing the work of adjusting for payment certificates, checks, cfc., issued in 
. settlement of the claims of colored soldiers, sailors, and their heirs, ( in accordance with joint 
resolution of Congress approved March 29, 1867,) since the date of last annual report. 

/ * 

Number of certificates, &c., in process of adjustment August 31, 1868, per last report: 


Second Auditor’s certificates. 1, 045 

Fourth Auditor’s certificates. 10 

Checks.. 3 


1 058 

















































26 


freedmen’s bureau and abandoned lands. 


Number of certificates, &c., received from September 1, 1868, to 
August 31, 1869 : 

Second Auditor’s certificates. 

Fourth Auditor’s certificates. 

Checks. 


and including 


14,548 

138 


14,693 


Total 


15,751 


Number of certificates, &c., sent chief disbursing officer for payment: 

Second Auditor’s certificates. 14, 319 

Fourth Auditor’s certificates. 148 

Checks. 10 

14,477 

Number of certificates, &c., in process of adjustment, August 31, 1869 : 

Second Auditor’s certificates. 1, 274 

Total. 15,751 

Value of certificates and checks above reported. $2,725,911 13 


The work of adjusting these certificates lias consisted in a careful comparison of each 
with the Auditor’s letter transmitting and describing the same, and with the discharge of 
the claimant; in allowing to licensed attorneys and agents the fees prescribed by joint 
resolution of Congress approved July 26, 1866, and such notarial expenses as were 
necessary to the prosecution of the claims, and not in excess of the amount allowed by 
tlie laws of the State in which the papers were executed ; also, in allowing or rejecting 
advances claimed to have been made by attorneys and agents. In deciding these points 
great care and vigilance have been required, and it is believed that the operations of 
this branch of the claim division have been satisfactorily conducted. 

It may be important to mention that during the last year all discharges of soldiers 
whose claims have been rejected by the Second Auditor of the Treasury, for any cause, 
have been forwarded to this office for safe delivery to them. While this arrangement 
has devolved upon this office much additional labor, it has, nevertheless, entirely pre¬ 
cluded the possibility of these discharges falling into the hands of the wrong persons, 
or into the possession of unscrupulous agents, who, by withholding the discharges, 
might defraud the claimants by exacting a fee before surrendering the same. 

This office has been also the medium of stopping, or suspending, the payment of cer¬ 
tificates issued in settlement of claims subsequently found to have been fraudulent, or 
to be contested. It is believed that great service has been rendered in thus preventing 
the disbursement of funds to persons not actually entitled. 

Great service has also been rendered through this office in settling many cases of dis¬ 
puted and contested claims for bounty and pension, (especially by heirs,) referred to it 
for that purpose by the Second Auditor and the Commissioner of Pensions. 

Many thousand dollars have been recovered likewise from claim agents, and paid to 
persons entitled thereto, on certificates and checks issued prior to March 29, 1867, and 
either improperly withheld by said agents or converted and appropriated to their own 
use. 

Again, a large number of claims originally filed by agents who had relinquished the 
business, without properly transferring the same, as well as by those who have from 
time to time been suspended from practice before the departments, or who, having 
filed the claims, became disgusted with legislation which reduced the fees to an amount 
not deemed by them sufficient, or, possibly, preferred that their clients should not 
receive the bounty to which they were entitled, have been taken up by this office, 
prosecuted to final settlement, and the amounts paid to the claimants. 

In accordance with the joint resolution of Congress, approved April 10, 1869, all cer¬ 
tificates and checks for colored soldiers, sailors, and their heirs, have been forwarded 
by the Auditor direct to this Bureau. The wisdom of this regulation has been made 
apparent in thus preventing any agent, who might be so disposed, from withholding 
such certificates to the injury of the claimants, and in enabling this Bureau to know at 
once what claims have been settled. 

The correspondence of this office has been, and still continues to be, very large, not 
only with the officers of the government having charge of the settlement of colored 
claims, and with attorneys and agents, entitled to fees, &c., for prosecution of the same, 
but also directly with the claimants themselves, numbers of whom are constantly 
applying for information concerning the condition of their claims, for protection against 




















freedmen’s bureau and abandoned lands. 


27 


dishonest and extortionate agents, or for payment of the amounts due them. Particular 
attention to these applications and inquiries is promptly given by this office, and no 
letter is allowed to go unanswered. 

In conclusion, it is'not too much to say that the records of this office clearly show that, 
without the protection afforded to colored soldiers, sailors, and their heirs, by joint 
resolutions of Congress, approved July 26, 1866, March 29, 1867, and April 10, 1869, 
respectively, and the persistent and zealous labors of this Bureau to protect the interests 
therein provided for, but a small proportion of the amounts due to such claimants for 
their services in the late war would have been realized by them. 

I have the honor to be, general, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

^ WILLIAM P. DREW, 

Agent and Chief of Claim Division. 

Brevet Major General O. O. Howard, 

Commissioner, fc. 


Appendix G. 


FINANCIAL REPORT. 


General: I have the honor to submit the following report of the financial operations 
of this Bureau for the year ending August 31, 1869 : 

REFUGEES AND FREEDMEN’S FUND. 

As stated in my preceding reports, the money derived from miscellaneous sources is 
termed the refugees and freedmen’s fund, to distinguish it from regular appropriations. 
The following statement shows the receipts and expenditures on account of this fund 
during the year : 


Balance on hand August 31, 1868 
Received as follows: 


$15,565 74 


From clothing. 447 57 

From rent of buildings. 2,680 98 

From rent of lands. 7,250 45 

From transportation. 150 46 

From subsistence stores, (amount refunded by planters for supplies fur¬ 
nished).‘. 125,107 13 

From freedmen’s fund. 50,272 85 


201,475 18 


Expenditures: 

Government farms, (old accounts).-. $6,607 77 

Salaries of employes, (old accounts). 30,870 21 

Quartermaster’s department, (old accounts). 170 23 

Internal revenue, (old accounts). 424 90 

Schools. 145,217 44 

Incidental expenses. 1,223 26 


Total expended. 184,513 81 

Balance on hand August 31, 1869. 16,961 37 


201,475 18 


The term “ freedmen’s fund” embraces moneys received principally from the sale of 
old Bureau property. 


APPROPRIATION FUND. 


Balance on hand August 31, 1868 


$3,598,636 68 


Appropriations: 

For freedmen’s hospital at Washington, D. C.; Richmond, Virginia; 

Vicksburg, Mississippi; and New Orleans, Louisiana. 50,000 00 

For collection and payment of bounty, prize money, &c., under act of 

March 29, 1867, for the fiscal year commencing July 1, 1869. 214, 000 00 


3,862,636 68 


Total 
































28 


freedmen’s bureau and abandoned lands. 


7 


Expenditures: 

Salaries of agents. $278,691 07 

Salaries of clerks.'. ... 239,049 05 

Stationery and printing. 31,220 48 

Quarters and fuel.. 86,148 46 

Clothing. 22,847 82 

Commissary stores. 238,314 71 

Medical department.. 269, 568 46 

Transportation, officers and agents. 107,007 82 

Transportation, freedmen. 24, 969 65 

Transportation, forage. 30,114 31 

Transportation, stores. 37,208 35 

Superintendents of schools. 32,622 42 

School buildings and asylums, including construction, rental, and re¬ 
pairs. .. 1.. 738, 094 62 

Telegraphing and postage. 17, 032 81 

Collection and payments of bounties, &c. 17,321 49 


Total expended. 2,170,211 52 

Balance in hands of disbursing officers, August 31, 1869. 269,419 51 

Undrawn from United States treasury. 1, 423, 005 65 


3, 862, 636 68 


Balance on hand August 31,1869. 1,692,425 16 


Of the above balance about $50,000 is due the Internal Revenue Department for taxes 
on salaries. 


SCHOOL FUND. 

Section 12, public act No. 114, of July 16, 1866, provides that “the Commissioner shall 
have power to seize, hold, lease, or sell all buildings and tenements, and any lands ap¬ 
pertaining to the same, or otherwise formerly held under color-title by the late so-called 
Confederate States, and not heretofore disposed of by the United States, and buildings 
or lands held in trust for the same, by any person or persons, and to use the, or appro¬ 
priate the proceeds derived therefrom, to the education of the freed people.” 


Balance on hand August 31, 1868. $7, 865 57 

Amount received during the year. 7, 362 88 

Total. . 15,228 45 


EXPENDITURES. 


Salaries of teachers, rental and repairs, and school buildings. $8,247 68 

Balance on hand August 31, 1869... 6 , 980 77 


15,228 45 


This is considered a local fund, and has been expended in the districts from which it 
has been derived. 

PAY, BOUNTY, AND PRIZE-MONEY FUND. 

Under joint resolution of Congress approved March 29, 1867, it was enacted that all 
checks and treasury certificates to be issued in settlement of claims for pay, bounty, 
prize-money, or other moneys due to colored soldiers, sailors, or marines, or their legal 
representatives, now residing or who may have resided in any State in which slavery 
existed in 1860, the claim for which has been or may be prosecuted by an agent or at¬ 
torney, shall be made payable to the Commissioner of the Freedmen’s Bureau, who 
shall pay the agent or attorney his legal fees, and pay the balance to the claimant on 
satisfactory identification.” 


Balance on hand August 31,1868. $1,413,718 00 

Amount received during the year. 2,729, 532 61 

Total.. 4,143,250 61 












































29 


freedmen’s bureau and abandoned lands. 


Amount paid claimants and attorneys during the year.$2,923,184 09 

^Balance on hand August 31, 1869.'. 1,220,066 52 

4,143,250 61 

Number of treasury certificates and checks received during the year. 14, 472 

Nujnber of claimants paid during the year... 14, 743 


The closing up of the general work of the Bureau on the 1st of January, 1869, and 
the consequent reduction of the officers and agents, has made the payment of these 
claims, especially in remote districts, very arduous. The few now retained for this 
duty are all experienced, reliable men, who have been in the service of the Bureau 
from its first organization, and in addition to their regular duties they are enabled to 
render valuable assistance to other departments of the government in ferreting out 
frauds and bringing the offenders to justice. Every agent engaged in this work has to 
be constantly on the alert to protect claimants from lawless, designing men, who act 
singly and in concert to defraud these soldiers of their money. During the year sev¬ 
eral well-laid schemes of this nature have been brought to light and signally defeated. 
When it is considered that in some localities the prejudices of almost the entile com¬ 
munity are against the colored man, the difficulty of protecting him in his just rights 
will be better understood. 

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

GEO. W. BALLOCH, 

Brevet Brigadier General and Chief Disbursing Officer. 

Brevet Major General 0. O. Howard, 

Commissioner. 


Statement of receipts and expenditures Bureau of Befugces, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands 

from January 1, 1865, to August 1, 1869. 


RECEIPTS. 


Appropriation.. 

Appropriation. 

Appropriation, bounty. 

Appropriation, hospital. 

Appropriation, destitute of Washington. 

Appropriation, destitute of Washington. 

Appropriation, destitute of Washington. 

Refugees and Freedmen’s fund : 

Freedmen’s fund. 

Clothing for distribution. 

Government farms. 

Rent of buildings. 

Rent of lands. 

Quartermasters Department. 

Conscript fund. 

Schools... 

Transportation.- 

Subsistence stores, (refunded to planters) 

School fund. 


$971,844 58 
10,354 70 
193,295 00 
109,101 63 
268,304 10 
12,200 08 
13,639 06 
98,940 88 
1,203 96 
125,107 13 


$6,944,450 00 
3,836,300 00 . 
214,000 00- 
50,000 00 
25,000 00 
15,000 00 
15,000 00 


1,. 803, 991 34 
61,654 06 


Total receipts 


12,965, 395 40 


EXPENDITURES. 


Appropriation fund to August 31, 1869 : 

Salaries of agents. 

Salaries of clerks. 

Stationery and printing. 

Quarters and fuel. 

Clothing for distribution. 

Commissary stores. 

Medical department. 


$928,158 05 
1,012,520 63 
146,745 43 
420.312 98 
254,319 43 
2,265,301 26 
987,614 50 


* This balance is deposited iu the treasury and other authorized depositories of the United States. 















































\ 

30 freedmen’s bureau and abandoned lands. 


Transportation of officers and agents. $327,(527 53 

Transportation of freedmen. 210, 556 88 

Transportation of stores. 166, 552 69 

Forage. 134,264 00 

Superintendents of schools. 76,780 21 

Schools, asylums, &c. 1,869,845 08 

Telegraphing and postage. 72, 078 92 

Internal revenue. 4,981 55 

Southern relief. ^... 407, 344 21 

Agricultural Bureau. 50, 000 00 

Collection and payment of bounties, &c. 17, 321 49 


9, 325, 324 84 

For destitute of Washington. 25, 000 00 

For destitute of Washington. 15,000 00 

For destitute of Washington. 15, 000 00 


Refugees and freedmen’s fund: 

Freedmen’s fund. 

Clothing for distribution_ 

Government farm. 

Rent of buildings. 

Rent of lauds. 

Quartermaster’s Department 

Conscript fund. 

Schools. 

Transportation. 

Household furniture. 

Salaries of employes. 

Repairs of buildings. 

Contingent expenditures.... 
Internal revenue. 

School fund. 


$26,773 57 
98,665 37 
53,888 14 
65,098 36 
'37,186 52 
* 181 49 
8,179 38 
594,175 07 
26,016 47 
2,094 90 
70,877 25 
21,475 93 
130,627 01 
9, 980 51 

- 1,787, 029 97 

. 54, 673 29 


Total expenditures. 11,249,028 10 

Balance on hand, appropriation fund, August 31, 1869. 1, 692, 425 16 

Balance on hand, Refugees and Freedmen fund, August 31, 1869. 16, 961 37 

Balance on hand, school fund, August 31, 1869. 6,980 77 


12, 965, 395 40 


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